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19 December 2012

The garden writer Sarah Raven wrote an article in The Daily Telegraph's Gardening section about poinsettias suggesting that they should "come in from the cold". She also say that they have a "fuddy-duddy" image and have been massively overused but felt that it was now time to reappraise them.

Some of these reasons were that it's an inexpensive plant and most of the plants sold in UK supermarkets are British grown.Last month the Poinsettia International had a press party where several big names in the florist world like Paula Pryke, Rebel Rebel, Simon Lycett and Ian Lloyd created quite elaborate arrangements using almost exclusively poinsettia. They showed ways of using the plant in contemporary and creative ways both as potted plants and as cut flowers.

I found these miniature red poinsettia at my local DIY store and bought a few for very little money. They're only about 15 cm tall and came in little silver pots.

I thought they would look great down the centre of a table. They are low enough for people to see each other across the table and they don't take up a lot of space.

As the plants already came in their own little silver pots I didn't feel I needed to re-pot them. All I had to do was to add some more shiny silver bling; like the vintage baubles, some votive candles and a strand of Christmas lights.

I've used a wide red ribbon but you can use strips of red fabric instead or a red runner down the centre of the table.

I love the reflections of the red ribbons, the Christmas lights and the candles in all the shiny surfaces.What do you think of poinsettias - love them or hate them?

So coincidental! I was actually queueing in the supermarket today and when I saw the poinsettias, all going cheaply for £2, I thought to myself how could its image be updated - love the transformation you've made Ingrid. Have a lovely Christmas and New Year :) x

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••• My love of flowers has grown into a great passion and being able to pass on my knowledge and expertise is a wonderful privilege. Working with flowers on a daily basis is such a pleasure and to style and photograph flowers - what could be better and who does not love beautiful flowers? ••• Fresh flowers will make any room come to life, whether they are large arrangements in a hallway creating a warm welcome to your guests or small arrangements with individual flower stems in bud vases or jam jars on a side table. •••
I love to inspire with creative and fun ideas and show how flower arranging doesn't have to be difficult, complicated or expensive. My philosophy and approach is focused on using beautiful seasonal flowers combined with interesting containers to create simple, quick and easy yet beautiful and creative everyday flowers.

FLOWERS - a collaboration between Ingrid Henningsson and Titti Malmberg

Two bloggers, two friends - passionate about flowers – together we created FLOWERS - a unique collaboration where we used our love for flowers, photography and styling to work on inspiring floral projects.